Hot Topics:

Fort Morgan Breaking News, Sports, Weather, Traffic

Broncos' Von Miller focuses on future, not tainted past

By Joan Niesen The Denver Post

Posted:
10/15/2013 12:01:00 AM MDT

Von Miller stutters, hemmed in by a wall of cameras.

He repeats. He's excited, he says, five times in eight seconds. Pens take down each mention, each too-fast stream of words. Reporters craft their questions just so, to maybe somehow coax out a nugget of admission.

This is Miller's first day back from his six-game suspension. This is Miller's first news conference since August. This is pressure.

"Football has always been the easy part," he says, and it has never been truer.

Von Miller will play for the Broncos on Sunday after sitting out the season's first six games. (Hyoung Chang, Denver Post file)

When the Broncos begin their preparation Wednesday to play the Indianapolis Colts, No. 58 will take the field for the first time since the preseason. Just a mention of Miller's name or his number lights up his teammates' faces, and when it comes to football, this is simple. This is the player who finished 2012 with 18½ sacks, third in the NFL behind J.J. Watt and Aldon Smith. This is the kick in the pants the Broncos' defense needs, not only to its pass rush, but to the unit as a whole. If things go as the Broncos hope, Miller's presence should have a trickle-down effect that pervades what is now the NFL's worst passing defense.

"He helps out the secondary a lot with that rush," cornerback Chris Harris said of Miller. "The offensive game plans change totally different when 58 comes in."

Consider, too, that Miller has increased his weight to 262 pounds, he says, and his body fat down to 10 percent; No. 58 of 2013 might even be an improvement upon the phenom of the past two seasons. Miller will continue to line up as both a linebacker and a defensive end, coach John Fox said, which will give the Broncos more flexibility on a strained defense.

Asked if Miller met expectations in terms of off-the-field duties during his suspension, Fox touted his strength work. When questioned about what he learned from his time away, Miller spoke of nutrition and his improved body. The answers veered back always to football. Deflect, reroute, anything to get this back to what Miller excels at, anything to avoid his struggles.

That's going to be the status quo from now on, especially if Miller lives up to the high standards he set for himself in Monday's interview. He asked that he be judged by what he does going forward rather than the past.

"I definitely made mistakes in the past," Miller said. "It won't do anybody any good to go back and defend that stuff."

Right now, Miller is his suspension. He's drugs, deception and a lack of accountability. But he has not yet taken the field, sacking Andrew Luck. He hasn't pressured Robert Griffin III to throw the ball earlier than he would like, when the Washington Redskins' receivers haven't yet broken free from the Broncos' secondary.

Miller hasn't done any of the things that made him the darling of the NFL before anyone knew about urine samples, test collectors or any of real-life problems that have dragged his star down to earth.

So no matter how heavy the past may loom, for now there's no choice but to listen to Miller and focus on the future. He and the Broncos certainly aren't going to talk about what transpired, and when the future is the kind of football Miller plays and a 6-0 team, why wouldn't they shift the focus?

"It's a blessing to get (football) back, and it's a blessing to have everything I set out to do still right in front of me," Miller said.

For that, he can thank his teammates. They're handing him a Super Bowl contender and a chance to be the best, and now he can repay them on the field.

Improved pass rush: This is obvious. Miller is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL — maybe the best. In his absence, Denver has 17 sacks, tying it for ninth-best in the league, so Miller likely will push the team even higher in this respect.

Adds depth at linebacker: With Wesley Woodyard out, the Broncos are missing a big piece of their linebacker corps, and depth is thin, so Miller's sheer presence will address that issue.

Helps the secondary: Having Miller back will have a trickle-down effect on the struggling secondary; Denver's is the worst pass defense in the NFL. Miller's sheer presence will force quarterbacks to throw faster, perhaps to receivers who haven't managed to escape the Broncos' secondary.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.